I work in Chichester and surrounded by Pompey fans. They are a deluded bunch. I have had to put up with years of them gloating about their 'Success' and now it has come back and bitten them on the arse.....again!
The worse thing that happened to them was winning the FA Cup, as they believed this was a springboard to bigger and greater things. The problem being that was all they were ever going to realistically win but nobody told the Owners. The team that won the FA cup was to be honest quality but those players knew that was as far as they could go with them and moved on for big money (where did that go), the players they brought in were not even half as good but still on big wages.
I was told that they brought in players at the start of the season by taking out loans and repaying them once the Sky money hit. The credit crunch then came out of nowhere and the banks stopped lending but debts had to be repaid. With the Sky money not paid until the end of the season, those debts could not be serviced. Administration Number 1.
The fans seem to think that the whole world is against them and their problems are no different to a number of more high profile clubs with larger debt. The biggest difference though is that they can't and never could service their debt as they were paying £30k, £40k £50k a week for players with a gate capacity of 20,000 and no major sponsorship. It appears they paid the players but not the Revenue and small businesses and even Charities!
I believe they are still paying £30k per week for Tal Ben Haim and he's hardly played. Last season they had 2 players sat in the stands on £20k - £30k a week as another game would trigger a clause in their contracts for further money to be paid to previous clubs. Looking at their squad today, there are still a number of players there you would think are on big salaries. On top of not being able to repay previous debts and a number of dodgey owners later it is no surprise Administration Number 2 has hit.
Obviously i feel sorry for the fans and my friends but not the club. I agree with the majority of you that they should be wound up and start again.
So only 2 teams are relegated from Championship which means only 3 teams are relegated from Div 1. How far down does this knock effect go? If it ends with the football league it's bad news for Fleetwood or Wrexham.
So only 2 teams are relegated from Championship which means only 3 teams are relegated from Div 1. How far down does this knock effect go? If it ends with the football league it's bad news for Fleetwood or Wrexham.
Mu guess would be two still come up from the Conference but only one goes down from league 3 so good news for Plymouth/Daggers/Hereford etc
It probably all started a few years ago. Maybe they had a manager who was crap at contracts and finances generally. Someone who would probably admit they were no good with money and didn't understand financial practices. Maybe they had a manager once who would offer players loads of dough per week, buy players at over inflated prices, sell them at a loss, no clauses re wages should relegation occur. Who knows? It may have happened. I don't really know who are their recent managers over the last 10 years or so. I'm sure someone does......
Portsmouth's finances never made sense, they have a small ramshackle ground, with little commercial income and (unlike say a London club) unable to charge high prices either, so it was all dependent on rich sugar daddies pumping in money, even in the PL.
So only 2 teams are relegated from Championship which means only 3 teams are relegated from Div 1. How far down does this knock effect go? If it ends with the football league it's bad news for Fleetwood or Wrexham.
Mu guess would be two still come up from the Conference but only one goes down from league 3 so good news for Plymouth/Daggers/Hereford etc
In the paper this morning it said 2 down from Champ, 3 down from league 1 and only 1 down from league 2.
So only 2 teams are relegated from Championship which means only 3 teams are relegated from Div 1. How far down does this knock effect go? If it ends with the football league it's bad news for Fleetwood or Wrexham.
Mu guess would be two still come up from the Conference but only one goes down from league 3 so good news for Plymouth/Daggers/Hereford etc
In the paper this morning it said 2 down from Champ, 3 down from league 1 and only 1 down from league 2.
I was still thinking in old money. Meant Div 3 : - )
It is clear that the 'escape' from Administration two years ago was a sham. It is clear that the club could only realistically afford to pay something like 3p in the £ (remember the debt was £150m) and I suspect that the creditors would have pushed for liquidation under those circumstances. Instead the new (or should I say latest) owners made promises that were clearly never going to be met. 20p in the £ paid over four years (5% a year) and here they are with debts they can't service again and they haven't even paid half of the original debt.
I can understand how the creditors would take 20p in the £ as it is that or nothing - which is exactly the 'threat' the current administrator had been bounding around. Public statements that are aimed at blackmailing creditors to accept less in the face of upsetting the 'wonderful fans'. Never mind those that lost everything (including their homes) for sums of money that many of the players earn in a month.
This latest PR stunt is just that. It's aimed at having the fans make enough noise that a solution can be found to the fact that they need someone else to pay their bills between now and the end of the season. no doubt creditors are being approached now to extend lines of credit to enable the club to last long enough to find a new owner to pay a small fraction of what the club owes - "Otherwise you'll get nothing!"
It is disgraceful but I'd bet my house that they will still be in business at the end of the season. Just like Palace a year or so ago who blackmailed a publicly owned bank to sell them Selhurst at half it's value, Portsmouth will be offered a solution that keeps them going. Interestingly many have bet their homes on Portsmouth honouring their commitments, and lost them.
This also ignores that the money the HMRC didn't collect is used for things like schools and hospitals. Anyone with a sick child waiting for an operation would have every right to look at Portsmouth (and other football clubs) and be disgusted.
I've said this elsewhere but Portsmouth should be liquidated and the FA Cup win should be removed from all history books.
Shouldn't the Pompey chimes be changed from "Play up Pompey, Pompey play up"" to "Pay up Pompey, Pompey pay up"?
Isn't the problem with such clubs, that they keep getting rescued, but by complete wasters and fraudsters, who bail out a few months later to another fraudster...these mystery businessmen (from dodgystan) with alleged fortunes. By contrast, the consortium who bought the Nigels seem like honest local businessmen and supporters, and certainly looking at the number of youth players in their team, they seem to be running the club on sensible lines now.
Heard this too many times before. I bet my house and car that they will be fine and there will be no disruption to promotion/relegation norms in any league.
Heard this too many times before. I bet my house and car that they will be fine and there will be no disruption to promotion/relegation norms in any league.
I'll take that bet. Please can you inbox me your address & car reg etc. Thanks.
Done and done. It's just a story that excites football fans because nothing like it has ever happened in (recent) history. So people start speculating on how the leagues will end up with one less team like some kind of championship manager glitch. Void points? Come on.
Done and done. It's just a story that excites football fans because nothing like it has ever happened in (recent) history. So people start speculating on how the leagues will end up with one less team like some kind of championship manager glitch. Void points? Come on.
Thanks Ja Shea99. Best bet I've ever had. As it's one sided I can't possibly lose. Luckily, I never staked anything. Anyway, if Pompey aren't fine, I won't sell your house immediately, without giving you the chance to rent it out. However, i will sell your car. :-)
Comments
The worse thing that happened to them was winning the FA Cup, as they believed this was a springboard to bigger and greater things. The problem being that was all they were ever going to realistically win but nobody told the Owners. The team that won the FA cup was to be honest quality but those players knew that was as far as they could go with them and moved on for big money (where did that go), the players they brought in were not even half as good but still on big wages.
I was told that they brought in players at the start of the season by taking out loans and repaying them once the Sky money hit. The credit crunch then came out of nowhere and the banks stopped lending but debts had to be repaid. With the Sky money not paid until the end of the season, those debts could not be serviced. Administration Number 1.
The fans seem to think that the whole world is against them and their problems are no different to a number of more high profile clubs with larger debt. The biggest difference though is that they can't and never could service their debt as they were paying £30k, £40k £50k a week for players with a gate capacity of 20,000 and no major sponsorship. It appears they paid the players but not the Revenue and small businesses and even Charities!
I believe they are still paying £30k per week for Tal Ben Haim and he's hardly played. Last season they had 2 players sat in the stands on £20k - £30k a week as another game would trigger a clause in their contracts for further money to be paid to previous clubs. Looking at their squad today, there are still a number of players there you would think are on big salaries. On top of not being able to repay previous debts and a number of dodgey owners later it is no surprise Administration Number 2 has hit.
Obviously i feel sorry for the fans and my friends but not the club. I agree with the majority of you that they should be wound up and start again.
Who knows? It may have happened. I don't really know who are their recent managers over the last 10 years or so. I'm sure someone does......
http://www.portsmouthfc.co.uk/LatestNews/news/Portsmouth-Football-Club-Statement-3174.aspx
http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sport/pompey/pompey-past/cotterill_hails_double_swoop_1_2835257
£750,000 for Luke Varney last July? If I was a small creditor, such as a local printing company, I'd be f88king angry.
To be fair to Harry, many of his purchases were very successful, and later sold at a profit, the problem was the wages.
I can understand how the creditors would take 20p in the £ as it is that or nothing - which is exactly the 'threat' the current administrator had been bounding around. Public statements that are aimed at blackmailing creditors to accept less in the face of upsetting the 'wonderful fans'. Never mind those that lost everything (including their homes) for sums of money that many of the players earn in a month.
This latest PR stunt is just that. It's aimed at having the fans make enough noise that a solution can be found to the fact that they need someone else to pay their bills between now and the end of the season. no doubt creditors are being approached now to extend lines of credit to enable the club to last long enough to find a new owner to pay a small fraction of what the club owes - "Otherwise you'll get nothing!"
It is disgraceful but I'd bet my house that they will still be in business at the end of the season. Just like Palace a year or so ago who blackmailed a publicly owned bank to sell them Selhurst at half it's value, Portsmouth will be offered a solution that keeps them going. Interestingly many have bet their homes on Portsmouth honouring their commitments, and lost them.
This also ignores that the money the HMRC didn't collect is used for things like schools and hospitals. Anyone with a sick child waiting for an operation would have every right to look at Portsmouth (and other football clubs) and be disgusted.
I've said this elsewhere but Portsmouth should be liquidated and the FA Cup win should be removed from all history books.
"Play up Pompey, Pompey play up"" to
"Pay up Pompey, Pompey pay up"?
Isn't the problem with such clubs, that they keep getting rescued, but by complete wasters and fraudsters, who bail out a few months later to another fraudster...these mystery businessmen (from dodgystan) with alleged fortunes.
By contrast, the consortium who bought the Nigels seem like honest local businessmen and supporters, and certainly looking at the number of youth players in their team, they seem to be running the club on sensible lines now.
Anyway, if Pompey aren't fine, I won't sell your house immediately, without giving you the chance to rent it out. However, i will sell your car. :-)